Your WIRED daily briefing. Today, the Indian government has moved to ban the use of cryptocurrency within the country, Germany has opened an anti-trust probe into online advertising, digital minister Matt Hancock's new app shows no understanding of data privacy and more.

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Indian finance minister Arun Jaitley has announced in his annual budget speech that the country will ban the use of cryptocurrency as a medium of payment (The Register). Jaitley said: "The Government does not consider crypto-currencies legal tender or coin and will take all measures to eliminate use of these cryptoassets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payment system." The move is part of ongoing efforts to clamp down on off-the-books payments nationwide. However, the minister said that the government plans to use blockchain technology as part of its own plan for a future digital economy.

Germany's national anti-trust regulator, the Bundeskartellamt, has opened an investigation into the online advertising industry (TechCrunch). Bundeskartellamt president Andreas Mundt said: "large single companies with considerable market relevance like Google or Facebook have emerged which, in the view of some market players, have been able to set up closed systems, so-called 'walled gardens'". Investigators will begin by holding discussions and sending questionnaires to companies in the industry to identify key issues for the inquiry.

Digital minister Matt Hancock has become the first UK member of parliament to launch his own app (WIRED). But the "Matt app" - a place where fans and constituents of the West Suffolk MP can keep up to date with his work and discuss the big issues of the day - as some large privacy flaws and when downloaded collects the personal information of its users. Privacy experts have criticised the app's data collection and privacy policy. It has been called "woeful".

Online auction and marketplace eBay has announced that it will be ending its relationship with PayPal as its primary online payments processor (Gizmodo). eBay is switching to Dutch payment processor Adyen to create a smoother, more integrated payment experience for customers, although it will still be possible to pay for goods via PayPal. eBay owned PayPal between 2002 and 2014, when it was spun off into a separate, publicly-traded company.

A study of 700 people in the UK has found that almost a quarter of participants were bitten by a dog at least once in their life, and provides some insights into factors associated with dog bites (The Guardian). Unsurprisingly, dog owners are more likely to have been bitten than non-owners, but the study also revealed that men were 81 per cent more likely to have been bitten than women and that people with higher levels of emotional instability and anxiety were more likely to have been bitten, although it's impossible to draw conclusions about cause and effect from the data.

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The long-term Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, which has followed 1,000 New Zealanders since 1972 has produced a tremendous amount of data about health and social development (Science). Now, as the study participants reach the age of 45, researchers have looked back at their data in an attempt to explain why one-fifth of the group accounts for most of its social costs in terms of crime, hospitalisations and social dysfunction. Their problematic circumstances and behaviours are part of a thread going back to early childhood, when most of this group experienced poverty and abuse, and scored low on neurological health and early skills development assessments at the age of three.

Last October, Sidewalk Labs, Alphabet's urban innovation venture, officially launched a partnership with the city of Toronto, where it would experiment in improving—nay, optimizing—city streets by observing and measuring how people live (WIRED). Now, that work is moving beyond Toronto, to any city that wants to create a frictionless, efficient transportation network. For a price, Sidewalk Labs' Coord will give the software developers at bike-sharing, ride-hailing and car-sharing mobility services access to thorough, local, standardized data on things like tolls, parking, and curb space. Critically, info can be shared across cities, instead of siloed in provincial departments.

A video tracking study has revealed that polar bears need to consume far more food than previously thought in order to keep pace with their energy consumption (Science). The three-year study found that bears living on sea ice require 12,000 calories a day, eating an adult ringed seal every 10 to 12 days. This is due to their unexpectedly high metabolisms and the large amount of energy consumed when they walk. However, this means that their ability to find enough food is at even greater risk from habitat loss caused by collapsing sea than previously thought.

Chuchel, the adorable, dialogue-free adventure game about an small, cute and irate black fuzzy creature trying to retrieve a lost cherry, has a release date and an announcement trailer to go with it (Rock, Paper, Shotgun). Developed by Amanita design (Botanicula, Machinarium), the game is coming to Windows and macOS on March 7. It'll be available to buy on Steam, GOG and itch.io, with smartphone versions to follow.

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The new trailer for Stargate: Origins revels in the show's 1939 period adventure setting with the protagonists trading blows with Nazis in a nod to the archaeological antics of Indiana Jones (The Verge). A prequel to the might sci-fi franchise that followed Roland Emmerich’s Stargate in 1994, Stargate: Origins will be available to stream from February 15th, exclusively via Stargate Command.

Last weekend, Elon Musk started selling flamethrowers as merch for his tunneling venture, The Boring Company. The flamethrowers – a kind of BB-gun-meets-blowtorch – were priced at $500 (£350) plus taxes and shipping (fire extinguisher now included) and are apparently set to start shipping in spring.

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The internet is broken. But we've got a plan to fix it. Tim Berners-Lee, Jimmy Wales, Jaron Lanier, Vint Cerf and Wendy Hall explain why we need a net reset – and what new systems we should be building. Plus: the only ICO guide you'll ever need, how to fix Silicon Valley's sexism problem (hint: hire more women) and Charlie Brooker's predictions for the future of technology. Out in print and digital. Subscribe now and save.